Dare You To Move
by Virtually Forgotten
Summary: [oneshot, songfic, re-edited] If Megumi wasn't capable of pulling Kaoru from her depression during Kyoto then who would be able to? PLEASE REVIEW!


DARE YOU TO MOVE 

A/N: Um…Kyoto fic…based on Kaoru's feelings when Kenshin left and all that good stuff. Aside from that I have not a single clue on what to say. Um…either like/tolerate/hate this fic, just PLEASE review.

Disclaimer: I don't own RK, Watsuki-sama does and I also don't own Dare you to move, Switchfoot does.

"_blah"—the spirit_

_blah—Kaoru's thoughts_

"blah"—someone speaking…

* * *

_Welcome to the planet  
Welcome to existence  
Everyone's here  
Everyone's here_

Kaoru lay silently in her futon, gazing up dully at the ceiling. Her body was motionless; her sapphire eyes were dead. But they had been like that for a few days now, ever since that night. That fateful night he left her alone with the fireflies.

She remembered how the fireflies had danced, to their own illuminating tune. Their bulbs lighting up the shadows of the night. She remembered the warmth of his embrace, the words that had escaped his lips and then his departure.

_Sayonara…_

She remembered the dance of the fireflies, as her sobs echoed in the night.

She stifled a sob and turned on her side, the memory too painful. She didn't want to remember; she didn't want to feel the pain for she simply wanted to forget. To forget everything that happened, to forget about _him_ so that she wouldn't feel this hurt. She wanted to forget this heart wrenching emotion that left her empty and lifeless.

But at the same time she wanted to remember, to hold on to her last memory of him.

_Don't leave me…_

The confusion raged in her mind, the pain in her heart multiplied and so she did the only thing she could think of.

She cried alone in her room, not at all moving.

_Everybody's watching you now  
Everybody waits for you now  
What happens next  
What happens next_

Tae and Tsubame's worried voices broke into her mind as they entered into her room, and settled themselves beside her. The afternoon sun shone through the window, lighting up the room but nothing else. The sun shined but it didn't light the darkness looming in Kaoru's spirit and it didn't cast away the gloominess that lingered in the room. She laid there, the grief only growing worse.

Tae frowned. "Kaoru-chan, I know this may hurt but you really need to cheer up." She gave her a small comforting smile.

Kaoru didn't answer let alone move

Her smile fell but returned once more as she got an idea. "How bout I give you my two treasures,Mr. Tsunan's Ibahachi and the real Nakajina Nobori's Hijikata Toshizou." She stated holding up the two paintings.

_Leave me alone…_

"No…"

"Oh…well, ok then…"

Kaoru remained quiet and didn't move as the pair exchanged a concerned look before Tsubame quietly spoke up. "Kaoru-san, how bout you have something to eat…?"

"Please…leave me alone…"

The pair was surprised as Kaoru replied in a slow monotone voice. It was as if the very fire in her spirit had been extinguished the moment Kenshin had left. As if when Kenshin walked away to Kyoto not only was he taking himself but also Kaoru's very heart and spirit with him.

"Kaoru-chan _please_, have something to eat!" Tae held the tray toward her and Kaoru shook her head, burying her face in her pillows. "No…leave…"

"Kaoru-chan!"

"Kaoru-san!"

Kaoru shook her head even more vigorously. "I said, leave me alone!"

Tae slowly withdrew the tray away from Kaoru and held it to her chest, both her and Tsubame sharing the same hurt expression.

"Kaoru…"

Truly what was to happen next?

_I dare you to move  
I dare you to move  
I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor  
I dare you to move  
__I dare you to move  
Like today never happened  
Today never happened before_

She didn't want to get up, she didn't want to lift her head and look the situation straight in the eye. It hurt, it hurt too much…

_Kenshin…_

_Kenshin…_

_Kenshin!_

His name echoed in her mind for days and nights but it felt so much like an eternity. The moment he had said sayonara she had felt her very heart rip and tear into tiny discarded pieces. She could've said anything, she could've leapt in his way and tried to stop him.

But she couldn't.

Time seemed to had stopped at that moment.

And she couldn't move.

_Don't leave me…_

_Welcome to the fallout  
Welcome to resistance  
The tension is here  
Tension is here_

Despite what anyone else tried to do they couldn't seem to lift Kaoru from this slump. She was submerged in her own depression. Drowning in a sea of misery and the pieces of her broken heart. Tae and Tsubame quietly sat beside her, not knowing what else to do. Her eyes were swollen and red from the many salty tears that had run down her cheeks. Her sobs were frozen in her throat as the cold tears ceased to stop.

The pain was infinite, the tears never ending. She was falling and nobody was there to catch her.

Nobody could save her.

_Kenshin…_

_Please don't leave…somebody…help me…_

Tae sighed. "Oh Kaoru…please get up."

She couldn't hear.

_Between who you are and who you could be  
Between how it is and how it should be_

Even when Megumi came to speak with her whatever insults she spoke of went unnoticed to Kaoru as she lay in her futon silently. Megumi glared and crouched down beside her. "Kamiya Kaoru, get up and move." Kaoru merely blinked and submerged her face in the depth of her pillows, not at all responding.

_I don't want to hear…I just want to be alone…_

Megumi stood and scowled before going back to the shoji door. "Let's go and leave the child alone to lick her wounds." She said steely before silently walking through the door and into the courtyard. Tae and Tsubame reluctantly got to their feet and gave Kaoru one more worried glance before making their way through the door and shutting the door behind them.

Kaoru pulled the covers over her head and shuddered before the tears began streaming down her face once more.

_Kenshin…don't leave me…_

_I'm alone Kenshin…_

_Please…don't go…_

That night she had lost her very sense of being. The night he had left Kenshin had left her with no light in her life despite the fireflies that continued dancing.

The very moment he had gone away her heart had broken and she was suddenly lost in all the confusion.

_Kenshin…_

_Kenshin!_

_I dare you to move  
I dare you to move  
__I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor  
I dare you to move  
I dare you to move  
Like today never happened  
Today never happened_

Suddenly she was caught in the cold grasp of fatigue and slowly she began to drift in a world of quiet; her mind slipping into the realm of sleep and dreams.

Kaoru's eyes fluttered open only to find herself in a dream. The moon floated in the night sky above her and reflected against the still surface of the nearby lake. It was silent and still, not a sound being made as Kaoru sat next to a lake, the place vaguely familiar. The starry night hung above her head and Kaoru looked around the scene, knowing that she had been here before but when?

A firefly danced before her eyes as more joined in the merriment. Soon there was a whole group of fireflies twirling and whirling in the sky, lighting the still night. Kaoru's eyes widened and her heart stopped short for a moment. She knew where this was…she knew when she had been here…

_May 14th…the day he left for Kyoto…_

Involuntary tears escaped her eyelids and silently ran down her smooth cheek. She pulled her yukata closer around her form and gave a light shudder. Not because of the cold but because of the sense of anticipation that hung heavy in her soul. Something…or rather someone was coming…

Her eyes widened, as she caught a vague scent in the wind, the smell of…white plum. And if on cue a soft voice rang in her mind.

"_Kaoru Kamiya…"_

Kaoru stiffened as her head whirled around to see whom this mysterious voice belonged to. "Who's there…?" She asked softly as she slowly got to her feet, her watery eyes scanning the whole of the vicinity. "Anyone?"

"_Kaoru-san…why is it you can't move?"_

Well, whomever this belonged to it seemed quite blunt, not at all beating around the bush. "First tell me who you are." She asked, as she straightened herself and stopped looking around, knowing it was futile.

"…_There is no need for you to know that. Now simply tell me, why is you can't move?"_

Despite the fact this spirit wouldn't tell of their name Kaoru felt oddly comfortable talking with it. She had the odd sense that this person wasn't dangerous and their motives were indeed good.

"Because…a friend of mine left…he left and he's never coming back…"

"_Never…?"_

"Never…"

_Maybe redemption has stories to tell  
Maybe forgiveness is right where you fell_

_Why is the departure of this friend so hard to fathom? Can't you simply make new ones? Forget of him and move on with your life._

Kaoru's eyes widened before she responded. "You don't understand!" She exclaimed, lowering her head as her fists shook. "Kenshin means so much more to me…I can't simply forget him!"

_Why Kamiya-san? If this person is merely a friend then tell me why._

Kaoru's eyes widened as she tried to register this question. Exactly why was it that Kenshin's leave hit her so hard? Of course it would have hurt but it shouldn't have paralyzed her. Why was it that when he had said that simple word her life had crumbled around her? Why was it that her future seemed bleak and meaningless without him? That her whole sense of living had faded away.

Why was it that when she was with him she felt that she could overcome anything? That with this one man her life was set on a single sure track, her life a locomotive that chugged off into the horizon without a specific destination but in her mind she knew it'd be all right with him there. Why was it that she had cried so many tears for him? Why couldn't she move?

"_Why Kamiya-san? Search deep within your heart and tell me your true answer. Is this man only a friend to you?"_

No… he wasn't…he was something so much more. There was a distinct feeling in her stomach that sent thrills throughout her body. It was like a match was being ignited as realization dawned on her.

She collapsed on her knees as she tried to make out the words caught in her throat.

"I…I…"

"I love him…"

_Where can you run to escape from yourself?  
Where you gonna go?  
Where you gonna go?_

She loved him with the whole of her body, the whole of her heart and spirit. How could she have not been able to see it? That the very seed pf her love had been planted in her heart the moment she had known of Kenshin Himura and as time wore on that seed grew into what it was now. It wasn't a mere infatuation; she knew right then and there that she indeed loved Kenshin Himura and everything that he was.

"_What are you going to do now?"_

"Huh…?" Kaoru blinked as the moon shone down on her form. A foggy mist secreted from the dirt and climbed into the air.

"_Now that you have realized your feelings…are you able to move?"_

Kaoru remained silent as a single tear dropped from her eyes. Could she move?

_Sayonara…_

"That's all I can hear…his goodbye and his name…it hurts to remember…I want to forget. I want to get up and move; able to face the day without having to care about the fact Kenshin Himura is _gone_. But I can't…"

Kaoru stifled a sob as she hastily wiped at her eyes. "I can't forget him, I can't stop crying. It hurts, knowing he left. It hurts knowing he left because he didn't love me enough, that I wasn't good enough to make him stay." Her eyes widened as she suddenly realized that fact.

"Kenshin…left because I wasn't good enough…" A stream of tears rolled down her cheeks as her glazed eyes looked at the lake beside her. Whatever remains of her heart broke at that moment as the thought suddenly dawned on her. She wasn't good enough…that's why he had left…

"_Don't you understand!" _The spirit exclaimed.

There was nothing to understand. Everything was too confusing…

_Somebody help…please…_

When was she to be salvaged? Why couldn't anyone help her?

"_Kamiya-san!"_

Kaoru snapped out of her daze, her eyes lost and confused before answering meekly. "Yes…?"

"_Don't you understand how hard it was for him to say goodbye to you? That's why he couldn't leave without saying it to you! You were greatly important to him and leaving you was the hardest!"_

"_Don't you understand?"_

"No…you don't understand…" Kaoru stated softly, tears misting her face. The fog continued to rotate around her feet but this went unnoticed to her as she continued to speak. "You don't understand how it felt, him saying goodbye to my _face_!"

_I don't…but what of the others? Can you understand how it felt for them? Knowing that Kenshin left without bothering to say goodbye._

Kaoru's eyes snapped wide open as a single tear hung on her lashes.

"_Move Kaoru-san/chan!"_

"_Get up tanuki!"_

"_Let's go busu! Let's go to Kyoto!"_

"_Come on jou-chan, get up and move!"_

"_Move Kamiya-san, because if you don't then what? What'll happen to the man you love, what will become of your feelings?"_

"I…" Kaoru's eyes widened at the array of voices that filled her mind in a quick instant. It was so fast it was down before it had even began but Kaoru had heard it all clearly. Her friends, they were all able to move despite the fact Kenshin was gone.

They were there for her…

"_Is this the way you'll honor his memory? Simply dieing here? Will you waste the rest of your life moping or will you get up and move?"_

"_I dare you to move Kaoru."_

More tears spilled from Kaoru's eyes as her shoulders shuddered with each sob. She wanted to forget him, forget _everything_. But no matter what she did the truth always came back.

Kenshin was gone and she was alone.

Her heart was empty; the light in her life seemed to have faded away. She wanted to chase after it, she _needed_ to capture it in her arms and embrace it once more. Even though she wanted to forget she simply couldn't. At the same time she yearned to remember, at the same time she wished to see him again.

I…I…want to see him… Kenshin… She lifted her head tears streaming down her face as she gazed up the obese moon. "I…really want to see him…" She sniffed as she placed her hands against her cheeks. "I really, really want to see Kenshin…"

"_Then what are you doing just sitting there? You said you couldn't move that night and so that's why you couldn't stop him. But now… now you have a chance to go and find him but only if you move. I dare you Kamiya Kaoru to move. If you truly want to see him then get up."_

Kaoru looked up at the sky, astonished, her watery eyes wide in shock. Yes…that was it… How could it have been so plain and clear and yet so vague at the same time? How could she not see that in order to reach the light she needed to _move? _How blind was she as to not see that moping certainly wasn't helping bring him back? That the only way she could see him again is if she got up and went to find him, even if it meant searching through all of Japan!

Her eyes narrowed in determination as she stood up, her eyes narrowed determinedly.

"Kenshin… I need to move… I need to go to Kyoto!"

_Good Kamiya-san, good for you._

And somewhere in the night the spirit's voice disappeared into the night.

Kaoru smiled as her yukata billowed in the light breeze. "Thank you…"

Someone had been there to save her; someone had rekindled the extinguished flame that was her spirit.

She had finally been salvaged.

She could move.

_Salvation is here_

Kaoru's eyes snapped wide open, her mind trying to register where she was. She quickly rose to a sitting position and everything that had happened in her dream returned to her, hitting her like a ton of bricks.

The sprits voice rang once more in her mind before disappearing altogether from her mind.

"_I dare you to move."_

Kaoru smiled and ripped the covers off her form before leaping to her feet. She swayed slightly as her knees threatened to buckle. She straightened herself and still in her yukata she ripped open the shoji with a loud, surprising Megumi, Tae, Tsubame, and Yahiko.

"What are you all doing just sitting there!" She exclaimed, planting her fists atop her hips and looking at Yahiko. "Come on, Yahiko we have to make it to Kyoto, to Kenshin!"

The four blinked before Megumi sniffed and turned around. "Why the sudden change in heart?" The other three nodded, the same question plaguing their minds. Kaoru smiled and simply answered. "Cause someone's watching over me, an angel maybe. Whoever they are they helped me move again."

The women shared similar doubtful glances but Yahiko, happy with the response, leapt to his feet and smirked. "Whatever, just as long as we can start on our journey to Kyoto." They all nodded in agreement while the smile on Kaoru's face widened. Tae and Tsubame happily cheered in the background and a small smile spread across Megumi's face as Kaoru's thoughts rang once more in her mind.

_To Kyoto…_

_To Kenshin…_

Finally, after many restless days and nights she truly was able to move.

_I dare you to move  
I dare you to move  
I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor  
I dare you to move  
I dare you to move  
Like today never happened  
Today never happened  
Today never happened  
_

Tomoe's spirit smiled down at Kaoru as the scent of white plum traveled throughout the dojo. Kaoru smiled, knowing that an angel was indeed was watching over her.

_Today never happened before_

* * *

**A/N:** Well I must say that before I really thought of this as some stupid unnecessary recap and so I changed it to this. I thoroughly wished that a friendship could be built with Kaoru and Tomoe's relationship but it never did. Considering the obvious fact that Kaoru's alive and Tomoe's dead.

Anyway, I'm proud with this edited version and I hope readers may like it. As for the Japanese words here's a little dictionary type thing.

Tanuki—raccoon

Busu—ugly/hag

Jou-chan—little missy (I would assume so)

Chan—an endearment for someone younger or very close to you

San—an endearment for someone older than you or just someone you respect

I think that's all….anyway, PLEASE review! I'm just a young student who doesn't have enough money to buy a Twix. All I ask for is 10 or more reviews, even 7 if that's all I'll be getting.


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